Space in Time
Exhibition by MERCY VILLA COPANTITLA, GIOVANNI MEZZETTI, DANIELA VALENCIA & JONATHAN YUBI
On view Saturday, December 6th 2025 – Sunday, Jan. 11th 2026
(Guttenberg, NJ) Guttenberg Arts is pleased to announce Space in Time, a group exhibition featuring the works of Fall 2025 artists-in-residence Mercy Villa Copantitla, Giovanni Mezzetti, Daniela Valencia, and Jonathan Yubi. The exhibition will be on view from Saturday, December 6, 2025, through Sunday, January 11, 2026. Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, December 6, from 7 PM to 9 PM. RSVP at guttenbergarts.org
Mercy Villa Copantitla is a self-taught queer Mexican-American multimedia artist based in West New York, NJ. Her vibrant and intuitive works (spanning painting, altar-making, embroidery, and collage) center on themes of healing, ancestral love, and spiritual reconnection. Through her residency, she explores the sacredness of girlhood and grief, using art as a tool to reclaim inner peace and community belonging in the face of generational trauma
Giovanni Mezzetti presents a body of work that reflects the distorted human condition shaped by modern life. Inspired by the lives of marginalized people such as homeless individuals and industrial workers, Mezzetti constructs portraits of humans turned into monstrous forms, consumed by pollution, processed food, and noise. These raw, dystopian works confront viewers with the consequences of a lifestyle disconnected from nature and rooted in exploitation.
Daniela Valencia’s work is built around multimedia character design and imaginative storytelling. Her series introduces four celestial beings: Sleepy Soon the Sheepy Moon, Twinkle Bun the Cosmic Run, Just a Teddy Bear, and The Subconscious; each rendered through mixed media compositions. Valencia combines fine detail with whimsical experimentation, crafting visuals that explore curiosity, emotion, and dream logic. Her creative process values unpredictability, drawing out themes that resonate with both personal growth and universal wonder.
Jonathan Yubi paints laborers, particularly construction workers distinguished by their reflective vests and hard hats and places them within invented mythologies, parables, and historical contexts. Drawing on a childhood spent reenacting books and films, Yubi’s work reflects on identity, labor, and social unrest. His paintings situate working-class figures within the broader tapestry of Pan-American labor histories, infusing everyday labor with dignity, symbolism, and narrative complexity.
Space in Time showcases the diverse practices of Guttenberg Arts’ Fall 2025 artists-in-residence. With work rooted in ancestry, identity, mythology, and social critique, the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the many ways contemporary artists channel personal experience into broader conversations about humanity, labor, and imagination.
For additional information or to schedule an appointment, please visit guttenbergarts.org or call (201) 868-8585. Guttenberg Arts programming is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Craig Guy, Hudson County Executive, and the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners. Guttenberg Arts programming is also generously supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.